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Can a fiancé(e) apply for a tourist visa instead of a K-1 visa?

A fiancé(e) is eligible to apply for any type of visa. In order for a tourist visa to be issued, however, the United States embassy or consulate officer must be convinced that the fiancé(e) intends to return to their home country after the visit to the United States. The fiancé(e) must also disclose that they are in a relationship with a U.S. citizen. This relationship indicates that the fiancé(e) intends to marry and live permanently in the United States. Thus, the fiancé(e) must prove that although they intend to live permanently in the United States they will return to their home country after the visit. Since this is difficult to prove, it is likely that the United States embassy or consulate officer will deny the application for a tourist visa.

If the tourist visa is approved; the fiancé(e) enters the United States; marries a U.S. citizen and files an application for permanent residence (‘green card’), the USCIS could conclude that the fiancé(e) committed visa fraud in obtaining and using a tourist visa to enter the United States to marry a U.S. citizen. In such a case, the application for permanent residence (‘green card’) would be denied and the fiancé(e) removed to their home country.

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